An Imperial alumnus returned to the College to view the science his generosity is supporting

Philanthropist is honoured by Institute for his support - <em>News</em>

26 September 2007
By Colin Smith

A year after donating £1million to fund scholarships, an Imperial alumnus returned to the College to view the science his generosity is supporting.

Mr Wilfred Corrigan donated money, via the Corrigan-Walla Foundation, to the Institute of Biomedical Engineering to provide funds for post graduate students; and help for post doctorates who are conducting advanced research in nanotechnology.

Dr Konstantin Nikolic    was one of the first to receive support from the fund. He works in nanoscale science and his research draws inspiration from the biological world. In particular, he is interested in living cells and how they interact in biological systems.

“Living cells are like small analogue computers that receive information from their surroundings. They process information and use it to communicate between themselves; performing tasks with very limited resources, but still achieving very complex computations,” he said.

Dr Nikolic says cells are extraordinarily efficient, robust and adaptable.

“The photoreceptor cell in a fruit fly’s eye is a great example of a cell which is able to overcome noise and detect a single photon. They perform information processing tasks under what we may think are adverse conditions and yet still achieve great results.”

He says his pioneering research could eventually help create better circuits, system designs and help scientists gain an important insight into how cells receive information from the outside world. He hopes that some future nanoelectronic systems will eventually benefit from his modelling and simulations.

“Mr Corrigan’s support has helped me to develop an entirely new branch of biology, which I call engineering systems biology,” he said.

Having established a long and successful career in technology and nanotechnology, Mr Corrigan wanted to fund a philanthropic venture which reflected his life’s work.

He was at the forefront of the technology revolution which swept across the U.S west coast in the 1990’s and has seen many of his contemporaries, like Microsoft’s Bill Gates and his wife Melinda establish multi-billion pound philanthropic foundations.

“In Silicon Valley, you find a lot of the people that started high-tech companies make philanthropic moves. The scale of philanthropy in the US is huge. There are a number of cases where people have made a lot of money and dedicate huge amounts of funds to eliminate diseases like prostate cancer and malaria,” he said.

The Corrigan-Walla Foundation, which he co-founded with his wife Sigrun, was established in 1993. Since stepping down in May 2005, Mr Corrigan has become more involved. Money from the Foundation has helped organisations like the San Francisco Symphony and American Friends of the National Gallery of England and now students at Imperial College, after discussions with Professor Chris Toumazou   .

“I’ve been heavily involved in nanotechnology and then I found that Chris was working on this effort and it was something I could see putting some funds into,” said Mr Corrigan who graduated from Imperial College with as BSc in Chemical Engineering in 1960.

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering is a postgraduate research facility, which draws together scientists, medics and engineers. The research programme is focussed on technologies in systems biology, materials, imaging, nanotechnology, bionics, biomechanics and tissue engineering.

Professor Toumazou said Mr Corrigan could instantly see the possible benefits that funding a scholarship programme could bring to the Institute.

“He is actually adding value to our work. His wealth of experience in nanotechnology also means that he knows exactly what we are spending his donation on,” said Professor Toumazou.

Funds are given to two students pursing a PhD each year. A Fellowship is also awarded to someone who has a PhD and is carrying out advanced research work.

Liam O’Brian currently receives the Studentship, which covers fees, a bursary and some research expenses. Dr Nikolic receives the Fellowship which covers a salary, some research expenses and conference attendance.

This October, Melissa Loh and Alex Ivanov, who are current students, will be the next to get the Corrigan studentships and Dr Francesco Cannelli will receive the Fellowship.

Mr Corrigan lives most of the time in the United States. He recently retired from LSI Logic, a company he founded, which is a leading designer and manufacturer of communications, consumer and storage semiconductors. Prior to founding LSI Logic, Mr Corrigan was President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.